Another 404 Jeffery thread

[DM Shooting]

What people's views on 404 built on an FN action barrel marked "made for Parker Hale Ltd by Fs Dumoulin Cie Liege. It's got a claw mounted German 1-4x24 scope.

Bad bit well fitted walnut stock extension with a silvers pad.

 

[Red Leg]

A very fine rifle indeed. If you poke around the on-line sites, you will find the occasional Dumoulin DG rifle, and they always carry a price reflecting their superb quality. Parker Hale tended to act like Charles Daley in this country; importing components or whole guns to which they added their name. Some of Parker Hale's were stocked in the UK and others were brought in complete. The "made for" makes me suspect this one was completed by Dumoulin. An owner would have added the claw bases and scope (along with taking a saw to the stock - looks like it was shortened and then lengthened again).

I have a similar rifle which was "tailored" by an earlier owner; with a similar poorly matched extension of walnut. Fortunately, the new LOP was quite long, and we only needed a bit more than a quarter of inch of the ugly extension. That was replaced with ebony and then a silvers pad added. Looks like it was meant that way. Anyway, assuming the rifling is in good shape you should have a magnificent rifle.

 

[DM Shooting]

Thank you rifling is still good and I'm just ordering some round up from Kynoch to have a shoot. The extension is much less noticeable in real life, but a larger pad would hide it much more.

 

[spike.t]

@DM Shooting i am sure it is a nice rifle , but the internet is too slow to show me the photos and another thunderstorm is on the way so it will pack up again . i look forward to looking at it when i get back to lusaka

 

[Halfnelson308]

Good looking rifle, can't go wrong with an FN. What are you planning for it? If you are looking for ammo, Superior Ammunition loads for the .404 and about any big caliber, with practically any bullet available. They put out a great quality product.

tel:843.830.3139
Www.Superiorammo.com

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

This rifle looks great DM Shooting.
It is legendary and excellent caliber.
I agree with Red Leg.
Witold

 

[Gert Odendaal]

You will not go wrong, any 404 Jeffery is a great caliber , this old rifle is some of the last great ones, they do not build them like that anymore...enjoy this rifle they are far and few between ...I am sure it will be extremely accurate..it has a well build stock..recoil will be dissipated through that straight stock...like all mentioned already..a great caliber and rifle all around...

 

[Velo Dog]

Hi DM Shooting,

Your rifle has the very distinct Browning bolt stop that Browning generally had installed on most if not all Mauser 98 actions used for their (Browning's) rifles in the days before all these "A-Bolt" designs and such.
It seems a curious thing that Parker Hale and / or Dumoulin would use a Browning bolt stop on any rifle of theirs but evidently they did.
Not that there is anything wrong with using Browning parts and pieces but, it is just unusual as far as I know.

I'm only a shade tree rifle collector and so, perhaps those two outfits did indeed use Browning parts more often that I am aware of but, I have just never seen it until now.
My guess is that the maker used what they could get at the time or perhaps Browning sold a quantity of their modified bolt stop type Model 98 Mauser actions (actions made for Browning by FN) when Browning began to abandon the Mauser action in favor of their own A-Bolt or some other proprietary action of their own design.

In any event, those Browning bolt stops seemed to work just fine and of course the FN Commercial '98 action is generally one of the better versions of the Mauser action ever produced.
Too bad FN did not do a larger version in Orberndorf Magnum proportion or Brevex Magnum proportion, etc. but nonetheless, the one you have is a fine Mauser and it begs to hunt Africa.
One fine day I will find the right deal on a .404 but so far, such a thing has eluded me.
Meanwhile, I plan to live vicariously through your adventures with your .404 Mauser.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[stug]

My .404 Jeffery is built on an FN action. Functions flawlessly.

 

[DM Shooting]

Thank you guys it is a lovely rifle that I've had for a while and used it in my younger days, my issue is I think it's wasted on me. I'm going to shoot it at the range soon to remind myself what the old girl can do, but it hard to find place to shoot these big guns here.

So my concern is I'll not feel at home with this rifle on a safari anymore, and may be better off just using my 375 H&H, that I can practise with easier here in Great Britain, I'm also building the 375s mirror in 308 win as a stalking rifle so they both feel the same and I'm more confident with my big (not biggest) gun.

So am I getting old and soft? Thoughts please.

 

[stug]

Have you tried shooting cast bullets through her? Von Gruff on here is an expert with cast bullets in the .404.
Otherwise if you feel it is time to move her on then I am sure you won't have a problem finding a new owner, the .404 Jeffery is having a resurgence of interest.

 

[DM Shooting]

Never tried cast bullets in anything, what's the difference in real terms?

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Never tried cast bullets in anything, what's the difference in real terms?

$$ for one thing. Jacketed .423 bullets are generally not inexpensive. Although, I got a sizing die to bring .429 handgun bullets down to .423. Handgun bullets are not too expensive

 

[stug]

As said above. Cheaper. Plus you can load them down in velocity and then shoot rabbits, foxes, roe deer etc.

 

[nztimb]

As Stug said, I spent quite a bit of time on cast bullet trials for the 404 Jeffery, although I would hesitate to except being an expert. I had loads that were for light plinking fun right through to over 2400fps recoil practice load. All of them were very accurate and could be used with confidence.
A 350-375gn bullet ( depending on the alloy used) was at its most accurate over 63gn H4350 (ADI 2209) for 1900fps while stepping it up a bit to 74gn Varget (ADI 2208) gave 2365fps and was second best for accuracy while 87gn H4350 (ADI 2209) took a heat treated bullet to 2416fps and was great for recoil practice and recovery with follow-up shots.
20gn Red Dot for 1400fps was cheap, accurate and I killed quite a few goats with it. 350 shots per can of powder with this one so added to a primer the cost per shot is next to nothing while the fun factor is still there.

 

[enysse]

Nice gun, I like the long barrel on it.

 

[DM Shooting]

Thanks guys very interesting who makes the moulds or swagging kits?

 

[nztimb]

I had a custom mould to suit my throat and bore from Hoch moulds.
You could get this one from Tom at accurate molds. When you fill out the data sheet you put in your own dimension requirements and he will make it to suit. Tom is a great guy to deal with and delivers a first class mould with a 2-3 week turnaround. I have a few of his moulds and cant recommend them highly enough.
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=43-400J-D.png

6 rows up from the bottom on page 9
http://www.accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=9

 

[Slugs Away]

Never tried cast bullets in anything, what's the difference in real terms?

Lot less $$$ and less fps, but 100 x more fun to cast and reload.

 

[nztimb]

Lot less $$$ and less fps, but 100 x more fun to cast and reload.

I would debate that less fps point when I was able to get a 380gn cast bullet at over 2400fps with very good accuracy. 87gn H4350 (ADI 2209) under the bullet really made it work well with 5 shots at 55 yds. They can be run slower but it is not a hard thing to get jacketed bullet velocity with good casting technique of a bullet that fits the rifle properly. The target shows a 350gn bullet but that was the nominal mould weight and with the alloy I used plus gas check and lube it was closer to 380gn.



Even at 1900fps the accuracy is excellent